The Case for Christian Nationalism

5. The Good of Cultural Christianity | I. Mode of Religion

Previously:

The Case for Christian Nationalism

The primary mode of religion is found in the instituted church… But in a Christian nation there are two supplemental modes of religion: the civil power of civil magistrates and the social power of cultural Christianity.¹

Though I have previously voiced my disagreement with using the civil magistrate to enforce the First Table, and will continue to do so as it comes up, I fully agree with Wolfe that there is a positive, social power to cultural Christianity. That agreement will end at the very beginning of the next section, when he takes the concept too far and claims that it includes the power “to make the earthly city an analog of the heavenly city”, but it is worth highlighting what is likely the only section of the book where he and I can find near-complete agreement.

Because he will immediately take the topic in an authoritarian direction and cite Scripture only once, in a questionable manner, to argue for cultural Christianity blending the visible church into the body politic, I would like to prime the reader with the Biblical perspective on how Christians are to “engage the culture”, by quoting Scripture at length. Firstly, the most powerful witness of Christians is not our enforcement of God’s moral standard through social pressures, but our ability to remain peaceful and loving when others break that standard:

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:14-17)

When applied on the societal level, this explicit direction to remain peaceful in the face of verbal revilement of our faith completely negates the argument for civil enforcement of doctrinal orthodoxy. Those who argue for blasphemy law (Christian nationalist and theonomist alike) often claim this to be the difference between individual and governmental responsibility, but this is a categorical error. While civil government has extra leeway to enforce morality (i.e., after the fact determination of guilt and punishment), it does not have an extra set of morals to enforce. If the individual Christian is not to respond to blasphemy with anger or violence then neither is a Christian government. This will be explicated and defended in detail in chapter 6, What Laws Can and Cannot Do.

Peter, continuing on this theme, reminds us of the extent to which we are expected to bear witness to the suffering of the Messiah, which he saw with his own eyes. We must accept that we may be called to share in His physical suffering for the sake of the gospel:

For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:20-25)

Most American Christians living within the common connotation of “cultural Christianity”, that of the personal peace and affluence made possible by the post-war consensus, have forgotten to just what extent they may be expected to suffer for Christ. Wolfe’s theory is predicated on a negative, guttural reaction to this Scriptural requirement and even promotes a right to violent resistance under our present condition, one that pales in comparison to what the early church endured; he goes as far as to say we lack “the spirit to drive away the open mockery of God and to claim what is ours in Christ.”² Does that comport with anything the Apostles, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote on the subject? The acceptance of peacefully suffering under tyranny is not an easy concept for Christians of any generation to digest and, like most Scriptural directives, it can be taken too far. But, it must be seriously contended with as a key component of our cultural witness by any political theory that wishes to be seen as substantively “Christian”.

Lastly, our cultural Christianity must be grounded in humility, fully aware of whom we are in relation to a holy God:

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:12-16)

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:1-7)

Here is a key paradox of our faith: though we can rationalize our current moral predilections compared to non-Christians - what Wolfe will describe as reason perfected by a pre-reflective prejudice³ - we must perpetually regard ourselves as the foremost of sinners. We are required to be ever cognizant of this and ensure that it permeates every aspect of our cultural witness. The true power of cultural Christianity is not found in collective ritual, like the prayer before a Little League baseball game that Wolfe will appeal to in this chapter⁴ or in the social and legal pressures of a Second Table Overton window, though these all have some benefit, especially the latter in the soft restraint of sin. Namely, it is the collective witness of a community of love, trust, and forgiveness, made up of people who were once the most condemnable of sinners, that has the greatest effect on society. The average American cannot tell you what the gospel is, in the first place, let alone knowingly reject it. The more frequently he interacts with people whom he once personally knew as consistently immoral, but who are now forever changed by the person of Jesus Christ, the more the law written on his heart (Romans 2:15) will testify to him of his own sinfulness and the truth of that gospel.

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The Case for Christian Nationalism

1. Stephen Wolfe, The Case for Christian Nationalism (Moscow, Idaho: Canon Press, 2022), 207-208.

2. Ibid., 352.

3. Ibid., 209-210.

4. Ibid., 213.